A cleverly conceived campaign and precise conditioning by Crawford Racing, combined with a perfect front-running, stay- out- of- trouble steer by JP van der Merwe got Oriental Charm home in the 2024 Durban July.

In an exciting finish, the energetic three-year-old warded off Cousin Casey’s spirited rails run, Royal Victory and Flag Man in SA’s iconic middle-distance race. See It Again, challenging for the lead was taken up at a crucial stage to only clock in a stiff fifth.

The final time for the G1 July was the same as the 2200 Conso – 133.6. As sectionals had unfortunately not been officially uploaded at the time of writing this article on Sunday morning, we will take the final times at face value and award the same “guestimate” rating of 107 to both Oriental Charm and Cape Eagle.

That makes the July slightly lower than expected. Oriental Charm managed a best s/s of 110 + going into the race and the historic July par winning score is about 112. The Conso comes in a few ticks faster than anticipated – Cape Eagle’s previous top was 103, leading to the following speed scores for the beaten horses:

Durban July – Cousin Casey s/s 107, has run 109 before; Royal Victory s/s 106 and Flag Man s/s 106.

Splashout 2200 Conso – Atticus Finch s/s 106, previous peak 105; Master Fuego s/s 105; Mucho Dinero s/s 105; Pomodoro’s Jet & Ponte Pietra s/s 104.

Café Culture got a perfect stalk and pounce trip on the rail to win the 1200m G2 Post Merchants. His last out figure in Cape Town was 109 when beating San Pedro and he reprised that hitting 108 as Lucinda Woodruff executed a well thought out raid up to Durban.

There was honour in defeat for At My Command (second from a wide draw) and youngster, Teflon Man (s//s 105) who could develop into a top sprinter as he matures.

Both Juvenile Grade 2’s over 1400m were also completed in identical times of 83.4 seconds with Quid Pro Quo and Cosmic Speed getting speed scores of 96. Once the fractionals are published, it may lead to an upgrade – Quid Pro Quo appeared to draw off in some style.

Piere Strydom had a rough time on See It Again and suffered another troubled trip which took care of fancied, Great Plains’’ chances. Yet he showed his timing and riding skills on ultra-dependable, Humdinger (s/s 102) in the G1 Garden Province, by steadily controlling the tempo up front, then fighting back to deny Happy Chance (s/s 101) in a head-bobber.

Greyville can be a rodeo show circuit with hard luck stories common, especially on big days when no quarter is asked or given by the jocks. In this instance, heavily punted favourite, Double Grand Slam (s/s 100 +) was the victim.

She was baulked at a key moment which snuffed out the momentum of her stretch run and could only achieve third spot after the interference. The familiar consolation – that’s horse racing. Or as my late, great punting friend Davey B would drily comment, – “tell that to your bank manager’!